


Kidnapping Virgil (not for real, Patton is exaggerating -Logan)

by dimesandnickels



Series: Sanders Sides go to College HumanAU [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-07-08 19:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15936989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimesandnickels/pseuds/dimesandnickels
Summary: How Virgil ended up living in an apartment with three older students during his freshman year of college.





	1. Singing (and later crying) in the Rain

Patton hummed happily as he sketched all over his math homework. Logan always told him to do his homework during his free time at the campus hotline when he had no calls, but he rarely got farther than pulling it out of his baby blue backpack. He had just gotten off the phone with some poor freshman whose biology class had given them a nervous breakdown needed Patton to talk them through it. It always made him a bit sad to know that people at his college were hurting, but he was always happy to make their day a little brighter.  
“Hey, Patton,” said another kid who had the shift after him.  
Patton honestly couldn’t remember the kids name so he said, “Hey, kiddo!”  
Patton started packing up his stuff right as the clock on his phone phone told him it was two in the morning. Just as he bent down to pick up his backpack, one of the phones in the office rang. Technically Patton was off duty, put he scooped up the phone anyway, signalling to the other kid that he got it.  
“Hello, this is the campus student hotline. How can I be of service?”  
Someone breathed heavily on the other end of the line. “Um, hi,” said a quiet voice. “I, uh, I don’t really know why I called… cause I don’t really know what you can do… Um, sorry.”  
“It’s no problem, kiddo,” Patton said, hoping that his encouraging tone of voice would calm the other kid. “Do you want to tell me what the problem is?”  
“I...I haven’t really slept much and I have a lot of homework and stuff. I’m at the library and… okay, I know it’s irrational but I can’t get myself to leave the building because I’m worried I’m going to be attacked.” The kid’s voice turned into a rushed mumble by the end of the sentence.  
“Have you considered calling the escort service? They can send people right to you.”  
“I won’t… I won’t know them or… and I have to talk to them...” they trailed off.  
“Okay, would it help if I were to call for you? I have two friends working there tonight, and I can tell you about them so they won’t be completely strange,” Patton offered.  
There was silent for a few moments. “Yeah, if… if you could do that…”  
“Okay, I’m going to stay on the phone with you and I’m going to call my friends at the same time. Can you give me your name?” Patton asked while he grabbed his cellphone.  
“Virgil.”  
“It’s nice to meet you, Virgil. My name’s Patton.” Patton dialed Logan’s number.  
“Patton, if you are calling about a canine you saw I must ask-”  
“It’s not,” Patton cut Logan off. “I have a kiddo who needs an escort from the library but didn’t want to call himself.”  
“I shall head over immediately.” Logan said. Patton heard him call to Roman. “Roman, we need to- get down from there! That doesn’t look anything like Pride Rock, so why would you climb on it?! Anyway, Patton, we’ll be over shortly.”  
“Okay, good luck.” Patton stifled a giggle as he hung up. He turned his attention back to Virgil. “My two friends have been sent. Logan is a huge nerd, he won’t do much as far as protecting you but he has a kind of calming presence. Roman is athletic and intimidating looking but he’s actually a huge nerd.” Virgil only gave a small squeak in response.  
A silence that anyone, except Patton, would have thought as awkward settled over the line.  
____

Logan sighed for the millionth time in the five minute walk from the escort headquarters (an abandoned classroom) to the library. It had started sprinkling and Roman had started singing “Singing in the Rain.” He had long since gotten bored of singing that song on repeat, he had turned to “Little Fall of Rain.”  
“Why would one sing instead of getting medical attention. Two of Marius’ friends are medical students,” Logan pointed out, trying to make the singing end.  
“That is why theatre is an art and not a science. Drama before accuracy,” Roman said with a flare before returning to his song.  
By the time they reached the library, they were both soaked and Logan was about ready to find some chloroform and attack Roman. They headed into the shelter of the nearly abandoned library and nearly ran into a small, darkly dressed underclassman who blended into the shadows.  
The boy squeaked and looked at them with wide eyes.  
“My apologies, good sir,” Roman said with a grand sweep of his arm. The boy somehow pressed himself further into the stone wall.  
“I apologize on his behalf,” Logan said shortly. “Our names are Logan and Roman, and I’m assuming you are Virgil. You previously talked to our friend Patton, correct? What is your destination?”  
The other kid, Virgil (Patton had texted them his name last minute), hesitated for a moment before rummaging in his pockets. He pulled out the map that all the freshmen are given and pointed to a section of buildings.  
“Right you are. After you good sir.” Roman held open the door for the other two. Virgil muttered a small ‘thanks’ while Logan just rolled his eyes.  
They started the walk silently, Roman had traded his singing for just humming, much to Logan’s relief.  
“What year are you in, Virgil?” Roman asked. Logan was fairly sure he had given the other boy that information. Perhaps he was making an attempt at conversation.  
Virgil hesitated for a second. “Freshman.”  
“We’ve all been there,” Roman said with a smile. Virgil’s shoulders relaxed a bit. Interesting.  
“What are you studying?” Roman asked.  
Virgil’s shoulders tensed up again. “My parents want me to study law,” he muttered bitterly.  
“This is your future, Virgil. You can decide what you want to do,” Logan told him.  
Virgil looked away and shrugged, apparently unconvinced. The rest of the walk was silent.  
As the group approached Virgil’s dorm hall, Logan noticed the sound of music. The blaring sound of some dumb popular song increased with every step. When they were outside of the hall, Logan turned to look at Virgil. The boy was nearly in tears as he stared at the building with a desolate expression, then sniffled and wiped his nose with his sweatshirt sleeve. In the light from the small lamp next to the front door of the worn dorm building, Logan could see large bags under the freshman’s eyes and the tremor in his hands. The older student concluded that Virgil was also experiences cold sweat due to the shivers of his body and the pale sheen of his face.  
Logan looked over to Roman, who stood on the other side of Virgil and was staring at the poor boy with pity and worry. A look of understanding passed between them while the youngest stayed oblivious, too wrapped up in his misery and frustration to notice the silent conversation.  
“Virgil,” Logan said slowly. “Would you stay with us for the night? I am worried you will lose conscientiousness any minute.”  
The freshman stared at him with a mix of alarm and fatigue for a minute before slowly nodding. The group turned around and slowly walked toward the apartment that Logan, Roman, and Patton all shared. The two older students pretended not to notice Virgil crying tears of relief.


	2. Virgil finally gets some sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finally gets some much needed sleep, and the impromptu sleepover becomes more than a one time deal.

It was almost three in the morning when Patton heard the front door of the apartment open.   
“We’re home!” called Roman.  
“Hey, kiddos,” Patton called sleepily from the couch.  
“Patton,” Logan said sternly, “what did I say about staying up watching Parks & Rec?”  
Patton turned off the TV with a sigh and got up. He passed the other two and started to rummage around in the fridge.  
“I trust you will not be upset by the news that we’ve brought a guest,” he heard Logan say.  
“Hmm?” Patton turned around and jumped slightly. A third person seemed to have suddenly materialized a little ways behind Logan and Roman.   
“I’m sorry, kiddo! I didn’t see you there.” Patton closed the fridge, the leftover pizza he had been searching for was forgotten.   
Virgil smiled wanly and swayed a little where he stood.   
“Oh dear.” Patton studied Virgil for a moment before rushing over and taking his backpack off him. Before anyone knew what was happening, Patton was leading Virgil to his own room, ignoring the younger boy’s protests against taking his bed. 

Patton burrowed through his dresser drawers, searching for pajamas that would best fit the scrawny freshman.   
“Patton, when I agreed to stay over, I didn’t know it entailed taking your bed. I really can take the couch.”  
“I was probably going to fall asleep on the couch anyway, kiddo. Don’t worry about it.”  
Patton handed Virgil the darkest t-shirt and pajama pants he could find, but even those were cat print.   
He paused as he started to head out the door. “Why can’t you stay at your dorms?” he asked.  
“It’s not that I don’t want you here,” he rushed to continue as Virgil opened his mouth, “I’m just worried that you’re not gonna get proper shut eye for the rest of the year.”  
“My roommates are having a party,” Virgil muttered bitterly.   
“You’re not really the partying type, are you?” Patton giggled.  
“No, definitely not,” huffed Virgil.   
“So how come you ended up rooming with them? Usually they try to match you up with people who’re like you.”   
“My parents had me room with them,” Virgil explained. “They said the social kids would be most likely to become friends with m. They said that people who’re like me would be scared to approach me.”  
Patton frowned. “It doesn’t seem to be working. Are you friends with them?”  
“Not in the slightest.”  
“Then why don’t you move?”  
Virgil just shrugged and looked away.   
“Well, just think about it kiddo.” 

The next morning, Logan sat at the table eating some toast with Crofter’s jam. He was so focused on an article about a newly discovered planet that he almost didn’t notice Virgil attempting to sneak out.   
“Patton will be most upset if you don’t stay for breakfast,” Logan told the freshman, not looking up from his paper, even when the poor kid jumped a mile into the air.  
“It’s no trouble, really. Help yourself to whatever you can find.”  
After watching the kid stand for nearly a minute just eyeing the cabinets nervously, Logan added, “There’s cereal in the cupboard on the far right.” Virgil’s shoulders visibly relaxed.   
The two students ate in silence for several minutes before Roman wandered in.   
“Morning, Specs. Panic! at the everywhere,” he said yawning.  
“Yes, it is morning. Thank you for pointing that out Roman, I never would have otherwise noticed.” Logan’s smug grin widened when his comment got a small smirk from Virgil.   
Roman huffed in exasperation. “I would give you an awesome comeback but I need to rest my vocal chords for rehearsals tonight.”  
Roman started to loudly make breakfast for himself, clearly trying to be annoying on purpose.  
“I think I shall wake up Patton,” Logan said when he had finished reading the article that had caught his eye. He walked over to the couch where Patton was somehow still fast asleep with his mouth open and glasses sat crooked on his face.   
“Patton, don’t you have class?” Logan shook the older boy’s shoulders to no avail. Finally, he just shoved him off the couch completely.   
“Where’s the dog?” Patton asked sleepily as he sat up. Logan just rolled his eyes and went back to his seat.   
“Good morning, Virgil,” Patton said loudly when he finally joined them in the kitchen, causing said student to jump a bit. Virgil muttered something that could have been ‘good morning’ but Logan wasn’t sure.   
Even though he was done eating, Logan decided to wait for the others to finish eating. Patton and Roman carried the conversation while Virgil watched silently and Logan pretended to be ignoring them.   
“What’re your plans for today, Virgil?” Patton asked. Virgil looked up in surprise at being addressed.   
“Oh, um, I have some homework to work on and stuff.”   
“Well, your welcome to join in our movie night, kiddo. And if you ever need somewhere to sleep again.” Virgil looked stunned at the offer.   
About half an hour later, Virgil slipped out of the house without a word.   
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Patton asked sadly once he noticed the absence of the younger student.  
“I don’t know,” Logan answered. 

Virgil turned up at their apartment again a few weeks later. Patton and Roman were sitting on the couch watching Sleeping Beauty when Logan walked in.   
“I’ve brought Virgil along,” he announced. The younger boy looked even worse than he did when they had all first met him. His eyes were hollow and his hands had a noticeable tremor.   
“Is it your roommates again, kiddo?” Patton asked. Virgil nodded slowly in reply.   
“You should really talk to someone about switching,” Roman said with a frown. Virgil only nodded in response.   
“Well, I am going in to the lab again if one of you would show Virgil to my room,” Logan said. He was gone before Virgil could refuse.   
“C’mon my chemically imbalanced romance, let’s get you in bed before you pass out,” Roman said as he grabbed Virgil’s arm and dragged him down the hall.  
“Make sure to pause the movie,” Roman called over his shoulder to Patton.  
“Wait here,” Roman told the younger boy as he went into his own room to find spare pajamas; he didn’t want to mess up whatever system Logan undoubtedly had for his clothing. He found the darkest shirt he could find and some plain black sweatpants.   
When he left his room, Virgil was not where he had left him.   
“Virg-” Roman stopped when he found the emo. The kid must have sat on the floor for a moment and fallen asleep or passed out because he was now face down on the carpet.   
Roman sighed and put down the pajamas he had just found. He turned the boy over and scooped him up bridal style before practically tossing him onto Logan’s bed.   
Patton started the movie again as soon as Roman returned to the living room. “Is he all settled?” the older student asked.   
“Yep.”  
“Poor kiddo, it’s no fun when your roommates don’t respect your need to sleep.”  
“It could easily be fixed if he just talked to a staff member,” Roman grumbled.   
“I’m sure he has his reasons, we shouldn’t judge.”   
Patton stood suddenly after a moment. “Since this isn’t just a one time deal, I’m going to leave him our numbers,” he said as he pulled a kitten notepad out of the junk drawer in their kitchen.   
‘Great,’ thought Roman, ‘now they’ll have to give up their own beds even more often.’  
Patton wrote the note and left the room.  
“Well, I left him a note,” Patton said upon his return. “I get the feeling he won’t use it, though.” 

Virgil slipped out of the house before any of them woke up. The three students were greeted with freshly made pancakes on the table and no dirty dishes. Patton and Logan kept an eye out for the freshman, worried they would find him on the brink of passing out since he wouldn’t ask for help. Unfortunately, they seemed to know him better than they expected.


	3. Exile and Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil continues to stay over, until things come to a head with a certain drama student. But, thanks to some less than stellar roommates, it won't be long until he returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: some blood, yelling, mentions of bullying
> 
> The conflict between Virgil and his roommates in this chapter is basically just me venting about real events in my life which is why it isn't as angsty as it could be, but I'm rather glad it wasn't more angsty in real life.

Virgil started to show up more and more as the semester continued. Logan and Patton would take turns finding him on the verge (hah) of passing out in the library or common areas or, in one memorable case, on the floor of a random hallway. Everytime, Virgil refused to do anything about his roommates, simply saying he’d talk to his parents eventually. But, given the angst and drama of the group, it was bound to come to an end. 

Roman threw down his bag with a sigh. It was nearly nine and he hadn’t been home since eight that morning thanks to rehearsals. He grabbed the leftover pizza that Patton had left him in the fridge and walked to the couch, hoping to lounge for several hours while watching Netflix.   
“You have got to be kidding me!” He cried dramatically. The highlight of his evening was taken up by a small figure in a black and purple hoodie. Roman set down his plate of pizza with more force than necessary, the clatter causing the freshman to bolt up with a start.   
“There is a reason you can switch roommates at this school! So you don’t have to go and annoy other students and live off of their rent money! Or maybe, you could try to talk to you roommates, but I suppose you can’t do that either. Or you’ll have to ask mommy and daddy if it’s okay with them. Grow up! It’s not our job to babysit you, even if Patton and Logan don’t realize that. Letting you stay here once out of pity is one thing, but this is ridiculous. I-”   
Roman cut himself off abruptly when Virgil jumped off of the couch and sprinted to the door, only pausing to scoop up his backpack and shoes.   
Roman sat on the now empty sofa with a sigh. He didn’t necessarily feel bad for speaking his mind, but perhaps he could have gone about it in a better way. But then again, maybe mommy’s boy could use some unsheltered reality once in a while.   
“What’s going on?” Roman jumped and whipped his head toward the doorway where Logan was studying him. The other student’s scowl told Roman that Logan already knew. 

“Um…”  
Logan strode past Roman as the theater student fumbled for an answer, threw on his shoes, and stepped out into the hallway of their run down apartment building. He hurried down the two flights of stairs, hoping to catch a glimpse of some purple bangs. He froze when he reached the steps leading to the building.   
That afternoon, some idiot had shattered one of the windows of the lobby from the inside, causing class to rain down onto the steps. Logan hadn’t noticed as he entered the building until he heard the crunching under his shoes, and Virgil clearly hadn’t noticed upon exiting.   
Logan studied the scene. Small flecks of blood trailed down the stairs and a couple feet down the sidewalk where they turned into two decent sized spots, one bigger than the other, and then disappeared. ‘Virgil stepped on the glass,’ Logan thought, ‘and then stopped and picked up one foot, leaving the other to make a bigger spot of blood, and then wrapped it and most likely put his shoes on.’   
Logan walked the length of the block, but could not find the younger student. He returned to the apartment and walked stiffly past Roman, who pretended not to care even though he obviously glanced toward Logan as he passed.   
Logan pulled out his phone and hesitated, staring at Virgil’s contact. He wasn’t the best when it came to dealing with emotions, so he had to consider his words carefully. He could ask ‘are you okay?’, but Virgil obviously was not alright so there was no point in asking. He could ask ‘do you want to talk about it?’ but he already knew the answer was a no. Finally he settled on: 

To Virgil: Did you make it back safely? -L 

When a response didn’t come for an hour, Logan hopped in the car and scanned the route from their apartment to Virgil’s dorm but didn’t see him. He settled into bed dejectedly, knowing there wasn’t much he could do for Virgil at that exact moment. 

Patton and Logan (and Roman, though he wouldn’t admit it) kept their eyes peeled for the younger student for the next week. Logan texted him every day while Patton texted him nearly every hour, but neither got a response. By the end of the week, even Roman looked uneasy, so Logan looked downright anxious and Patton was on the verge (hah) of a nervous breakdown.   
“We’re not his babysitters, we don’t need to look after him,” Roman tried to reason halfheartedly as the three of them tried to watch a movie.   
“But we’re his friends,” Patton said sadly, “We do need to look out for him.”   
“He just slept on our couch, does that really count as friendship?”   
“Well you may not have been friends with him but Patton and I frequently went out to lunch with him,” Logan said with a scowl.   
“What?” For once in his life, Roman’s attention was completely drawn away from a Disney movie.   
“Yeah, he’s a nice kid. He laughs at all my jokes even if he tries to hide it,” Patton said with a sad smile.  
“I find him to be an adequate debater and he brings some interesting perspectives on different subjects.”   
Roman now felt even more guilty. “He’ll turn up eventually, guys.” No one believed him, least of all himself. 

Virgil reappeared on the radar a few days later. Patton had since then given up on trying to engage Virgil through text, but still texted ‘are you okay’ every hour. Finally, when he was eating dinner with Logan while Roman was at a rehearsal, he got a response. 

To Misunderstood Shadowling: R u ok?  
From Misunderstood Shadowling: no

Patton frowned at Virgil’s response and showed Logan. 

To Misunderstood Shadowling: Y?   
From Misunderstood Shadowling: Everyone hates me  
To Misunderstood Shadowling: Can we come visit u? Or can u come here?

Virgil didn’t respond for nearly ten minutes before saying he would walk over, refusing to accept a ride or an escort. 

“Patton, pacing will solve nothing,” Logan said as Patton passed the recliner he was sitting in for the twentieth time.   
“Neither will pretending to read.” Logan sighed and set aside the book he had been hiding behind.   
They sat in tense silence until the doorbell rang, causing them both to jump. Patton all but ran to the door while Logan followed at a more normal pace. When the door opened to reveal the small freshman, Logan grabbed Patton’s arm to keep him from tackling the poor boy with a hug.   
“Virgil,” Logan greeted politely, relief giving away some of his nervousness through his even tone. “How are you fairing?”  
Virgil’s lower lip trembled as he glared determinedly at the ground.   
“Come in kiddo,” Patton said gently. The three went to the couch and sat stiffly.   
“So what’s wrong, Virge?” Patton asked.   
“Everyone hates me,” Virgil muttered bitterely.  
“We don’t hate you, kiddo.”  
“Thanks,” Virgil said with a weak smile. “It’s just everyone else that hates me.”   
“Virgil, I can assure you that Roman was merely overreacting and will calm down once he is under less stress from the play he-”  
“I’m not just talking about Roman.”  
“What happened?”   
Virgil opened his mouth before snapping it shut. He pulled out his phone and scrolled threw it before handing it to them.   
Logan read over Patton’s shoulder. Someone under a username he didn’t recognize had posted a message in all caps on Instagram:

I DARE VIRGIL TO COME AT ME AGAIN. HE’S LUCKY THERE WAS A TEACHER THERE TO SAVE HIS ASS OR I WOULD HAVE SHOWED HIM WHAT THE FUCK WAS UP!

“That’s my roommate,” Virgil said in answer to Logan’s questioning look.   
“He said ‘come at me again’, what happened?”  
“They were getting worse. They wouldn’t shut up and I was getting overwhelmed and they kept harassing me and saying things about me like I wasn’t there,” Virgil took a shaky breath. “And I kinda lost it. I didn’t say anything too bad, just that I’d rather they say it to my face and that I’d had enough and…” Virgil trailed off and looked at the ground.   
“You did nothing wrong, honey,” Patton said sympathetically, grabbing his hand. “And I will personally beat him up for you.”   
Again, Virgil managed a weak smile. “I expected this of him, honestly, but it’s something else, also.” Virgil grabbed his phone from Logan and clicked something. Under the post, there showed a comment from someone under the name “Deceit.”

Yeah, that was ridiculous. I don’t know what his problem was.

“I thought we were becoming friends. I thought I was getting along alright with some of them, but I guess not. What was I thinking?!” Virgil started to sound even more panicked, “I was thinking I didn’t want to be walked over my entire life! But no, I’m the ridiculous one. And everyone knows them, so everyone in the school is gonna be after me. I know I’m probably just being paranoid, but I’m actually really scared. I can’t go back.” Virgil had started to hyperventilate.   
“Virgil, no. You’re going to be fine. It’s not your fault,” Patton cooed.  
“Virgil, I need you to take deep breaths and focus on your physical location,” Logan instructed. They sat for a little while, Logan coaching him on his breathing and Patton rubbing his back.   
“You can stay with us for as long as you need, kiddo,” Patton said, but Virgil shook his head.   
“I should deal with it. I need to grow up. I can go back there.”  
“Virgil,” Logan said gently, “I know what Roman said, I you standing up for yourself means you are grown up. You know as well as we do that that lot has a history of violence. You don’t need to put yourself at risk when we are more than happy to help you.” Virgil refused to meet their eyes. Patton and Logan exchanged looks before turning their attention back to Virgil. A tear ran down the freshman’s cheek, followed by another. Soon enough, the freshman had completely broken down and was sobbing his heart out in Patton’s arms.   
“Hey, Virgil. If we just both stay in my room Roman doesn’t need to know you’re staying over until we can figure out a permanent arrangement. Only if you want to,” Patton rushed.   
“Okay,” Virgil said with a tearful nod. Logan silently put on Finding Nemo before settling next to the still hugging pair.   
“Welcome to your new home, kiddo.”


	4. A snazzy transition chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically this is a transition chapter before some more drama happens where Patton and Logan take care of Virgil and decide where to go from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: some blood

Roman threw down his bag with a sigh and headed straight to the fridge. He pulled out a sandwich Patton had left for him, but frowned when he saw that it had been thrown together in a much sloppier manner than usual. He shrugged and made a note to ask Patton if he was stressed about something. He picked up his bag again and headed toward his room. He froze suddenly, sandwich halfway to his mouth, at the sight of a trail of small specks of blood. He crept forward slowly with his heart beating loudly, following the trail all the way to Patton’s room.  
“Padre?” Roman called softly through the door, not wanting to wake up Logan at three in the morning lest he receive a lecture about proper rest. “Patton?”  
“What is it, kiddo?” Patton asked sleepily, cracking open his door just enough to reveal one half-closed eye.   
“I just came in and couldn’t help but notice there is a trail of blood running toward your room. Have you engaged in a battle recently?” Roman asked with a chuckle that barely hid the worry in his voice.   
“Oh dear,” Patton said, suddenly wide awake. “Um, I think I stepped on the glass outside, I just need to put a bandaid on it or something, no worries.”  
“Are you sure? Why were you outside without shoes on?”  
“I stepped in a puddle and I hate wearing wet shoes.” Roman nodded slowly, he felt as though Patton were leaving something out, but his older friend did not appear to be in immediate distress.   
“Alright then, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, kiddo,” Patton said before closing the door quickly. He flipped on the lights and walked over to his bed.  
“Hey kiddo?” Patton shook Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil slowly unburied himself from his blanket nest and blinked owlishly up at the older student slowly.   
“Are you bleeding?” Virgil’s eyes somehow got wider and he scrambled out of the bed, only to fall backwards as soon as he touched the ground.   
“I’m so sorry, Patton, I hadn’t noticed. I can clean it up, don’t worry. I’m so sorry, I-”  
“Woah, slow down kiddo, I’m not mad, I just want to know you’re okay. Where are you hurt?”   
Virgil looked down ashamedly at the ground. “It’s still from the glass a little while ago.”  
“Oh dear. Can I take a look?” Logan had informed Patton of what he suspected had occurred the day Virgil disappeared.   
Virgil nodded and shakily took off his socks, revealing sloppily bandaged feet. Patton gently undid the bandages and surveyed the damage. The small punctures and gashes on the bottoms of Virgil’s feet had scabbed over, but some had reopened and were bleeding. They were all puffy and red around the scabs and open wounds.   
“I think it would be better if Logan were to look at this, kiddo. Is that all right?” When Virgil nodded Patton hurried out the door, though not before checking to make sure Roman wasn’t there.   
“Logan?” Patton called softly as he knocked on the younger student’s door. Logan appeared almost instantly in a tight fitting t-shirt and pajama pants. Patton told his fluttering heart to focus.   
“Sorry for waking you up but there’s a situation with Virgil.”  
“No need to be sorry Patton, I was reading, first of all, and I am more than happy to help.”   
“Okay, good.” Patton grabbed Logan’s arm and all but dragged the other student to where Virgil sat waiting.   
“All right Virgil, let me see.” Logan gently guided Virgil’s hands away from the wad of bandages pressed against the wounds. Patton left to grab the First Aid kit from the bathroom while Logan performed his examination.   
“-going to need some antibiotics,” Logan was telling Virgil when Patton returned. “Ah Patton,” the younger student said, turning to Patton. “Can you pass me the tube that is in the front pocket?”  
The two of them cleaned and freshly bandaged Virgil’s feet, and then turned their attention to the carpet. Despite Virgil’s protests, they cleaned the carpet in the hallway and living room so that Roman wouldn’t spot the freshman while Virgil changed the sheets while sitting in a desk chair.   
“I’m really sorry,” Virgil said as the three of them reassembled the First Aid kit.  
“It was an accident Virgil, we aren’t mad. I’m glad we could take care of your injuries,” Logan assured him.   
Then, as if nothing had happened, Virgil went back to trying to take up as little space in Patton’s bed while the other student snored loudly next to him. Despite his argument, Patton would not allow him to take the floor, and Virgil wouldn’t let Patton be kicked out of his own bed so there they were, awkwardly sharing a bed. Well, it was awkward for Virgil, Patton didn’t seem to care. 

Patton woke up with an unfamiliar weight on his chest. He put on his glasses and blinked down at Virgil, who was curled up against him. Patton hesitated before running his fingers gently through the younger boy’s hair. He couldn’t help it, Virgil managed to look sad and concerned even in sleep, and seemed to be burrowing into Patton’s shirt for comfort.   
Patton stayed still, in order to let Virgil get some much needed sleep. Twenty minutes later, the door to his room opened slowly and Logan peeked in.   
“Roman has just left so I would recommend eating now before he returns.” Logan turned around stiffly, but Patton didn’t miss the look sent over his shoulder: pity, wistfulness, anger, and a few more emotions even Patton couldn’t place.   
“Virgil,” he called gently, shaking the young man’s shoulder. “You need to wake up now.”  
VIrgil’s eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, eyes searching the room in confusion before landing on Patton.   
“It’s okay, kiddo. You’re safe. Let’s go have waffles.” Patton figured that acting out of the ordinary would make Virgil more anxious. Virgil winced as he stood up, but remained standing and walked across the floor determinedly. Patton followed him out and into the kitchen where Logan was cooking breakfast, a rare sight to see indeed.   
“Thanks for cooking, kiddo,” Patton told him with a grin.   
Logan looked up from his newspaper for a moment before turning away his attention again. “It is not terribly difficult to pour batter onto a waffle iron.”  
“Sorry, don’t let me keep waffling on.” 

When Patton had finished eating and left the table, Logan kept reading while Virgil pushed his food around on his plate.  
“Virgil, it is necessary for you to acquire nutrition if you are to heal,” Logan said, not looking up from his paper. He received a grunt in response.   
“Is there anything troubling you that you wish to talk about?” Logan asked when Virgil continued to not eat.   
“What am I going to do?” Virgil mumbled, started to bounce his knee as well as play with his food.   
“Well, if you wish you could stay here or you could find somewhere else to stay. I will tell you now that we are not letting you return to your previous arrangement.”   
“You only have three rooms, and none of them are big enough to fit two beds. And I can’t stay here if Roman is here.”  
“Maybe if you were to talk and make peace with Roman he would be more amicable toward you and therefore agree to your staying with us.”  
Virgil chuckled darkly. “I don’t see that happening any time soon,” he said bitterly.   
“Well,” Logan said, deciding to not go further down that line of thinking, “we will harbor you for as long as you need and Roman does not need to be informed of it.”  
“Thanks.” The two sat in silence for a few more minutes. Logan looked up at one point and saw Virgil sitting still and clearly having a mental conflict.   
“Is there any other concern you with for me to aid you with?”  
“There’s not much you can do. I just… my parents are gonna be pissed.”  
“They are already deciding you’re major, I think it would be fair that you control your own living conditions.” Virgil gave no response.


	5. Things don't go as planned (like always)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman still doesn't know that Virgil is living in his house, but is surprised to find out that the freshman has made friends with Logan and stayed late for a study session, we get a look at Logan and Virgil's friendship, and Roman and Virgil are left alone in the apartment together (not to Roman's knowledge of course) when visitors arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: none

Roman’s time was being completely taken up by the play and had him coming home later and later each night, which is why he never expected to run into a certain hoodie wearing freshman when he came home.   
He had just thrown down his bag in the entryway, too tired to care that Logan would probably lecture him, and turned around to see a limping Virgil trying to hurry away. Roman definitely did not shriek.   
“Are you staying over again?” Roman asked angrily once he had composed himself. Virgil didn’t say anything and simply shook his head. The silence made Roman even more angry.   
“Then what the hell are you doing here? Have you been breaking in or something? Fix your own-”  
“What is going on here?” Logan’s sudden appearance cut Roman off.   
“Um, I don’t know. Probably him turning up again.”  
Logan frowned. “Unlike you, Roman, Patton and I befriended Virgil during our times of harboring him. Virgil is simply staying over for a study session with me.”  
“You were just in the shower, Lo.”  
“Yes, well, Virgil had to finish homework for a class I was not in so I thought it would be an appropriate use of excess time. This meant Virgil had to use the other bathroom, causing him to run into you. Now if you will excuse us, I think we can get in another hour of studying or so until Virgil has to return to his dormitory.” Logan walked away stiffly, followed by a unsure Virgil. The freshman cast a nervous look over his shoulder at Roman, who glared in return. 

“Why does he hate me so much?” Virgil sighed as all but fell into Logan’s desk chair. Logan noted with a small smile that this was the first time Virgil had sat somewhere without having to ask if he could do so.  
“Roman is stubborn, it takes drastic events for him to change the view he has of a person, unfortunately,” Logan told the younger boy.   
“Thanks for saving me,” Virgil mumbled. “I can sleep on the floor of something…”  
“No need, I am comfortable with sharing if you are, if not I am sure Patton would be more than happy to accommodate you.”   
“No, it’s...it’s fine.”   
“Well then, feel free to lie down. I am going to arrange some of our things to look as though we were studying.” 

“Virgil?” Patton mumbled once he was finally awake enough to recognize what was off. There was no sign of the boy who would normally have snuggled into Patton’s side while asleep.   
Patton threw off the blankets and padded quickly to Logan’s door and flung it open.   
“Lo-” Patton cut himself off once he registered what he was seeing. The two normally awkward and stiff students were curled up together, with Virgil using Logan’s chest as a pillow and Logan having an arm wrapped around the younger boy. Patton’s photo storage went down drastically as he took upwards of a hundred photos. 

By the time spring break had arrived a few weeks later, Virgil still had not found a rooming arrangement that he could afford and the older students approved of, so he stayed with Logan and Patton. He had long ago started paying for rent and food, but Patton always charged him less than what a stricter person would. 

“Goodbye, kiddo,” Patton said tearfully as he embraced Virgil once again.   
“Pat, it’s only a week,” Virgil reminded him with a small, shy smile.   
“I know but still.”  
“And he has promised to text everyday,” Logan reminded the older student as he gave Virgil a quick awkward hug.  
“I know but still.”   
“Are you alright to stay here on your own for a few hours?” Logan asked. “You don’t want us to drop you off at the airport before we drive home?”  
“I’ll be fine, I don’t want to be stuck waiting for my flight for hours. You two have fun.” Virgil gave Logan a suggestive wink. Logan could feel his cheeks heating up.   
“Yes, well, um, goodbye.” Logan grabbed his suitcase and hurried into the kitchen.   
“Hey, Specs,” Roman greeted him.   
“Farewell, Roman. I must ask you not to burn the apartment down while we are away. And fracture a femur at your rehearsals.”   
“Sure thing, Lo,” Roman said with a roll of his eyes.   
“Bye, kiddo!” Patton came nearly sprinting into the room and launched himself at Roman. Logan was glad the older boy could get some energy out before the drive, there was only so long he could listen to Patton sing the Campfire Fun song from Spongebob. He also knew that Patton was dying to tackle hug someone because he could see how hard it was for Patton to restrain himself and calmly hug Virgil.   
The loaded into Logan’s old car and drove though campus.   
“We just left Roman and Virgil alone together in the apartment,” Patton said as though just realizing this.  
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Logan said, now starting to worry himself. 

Roman had just started what was going to be his Steven Universe binge watching session when the doorbell rang. With a grumble, Roman hauled himself up off of the couch and walked over to yank the door open angrily.   
“Can I help you?” he asked. He knew he wasn’t being the most polite, but he only had limited time to relax before leaving for the theater in a few hours and whoever was at the door was taking up that valuable time.   
“Sorry to bother you,” said a woman who didn’t sound sorry at all. She was short but still managed to be intimidating in her sweater and suit skirt. Even by Roman’s standards the outfit seemed a bit much, with everything perfectly ironed and its expensive looking jewelry. Her dark hair was pulled up into an impeccable bun and her blue eyes seemed to look through Roman.   
The man standing next to her couldn’t have looked more different with his wrinkled, overly large t-shirt and ripped jeans (not the intentionally ripped kind). His chestnut hair stuck up in every direction and his dark looked at Roman with bored interest. Roman started to hide behind the doorframe a bit more under the weight of their stares.   
“What do you want?” Roman asked again, though his voice sounded a bit more squeaky this time.   
“We are looking for a student that goes here named Virgil.” Great, even when he wasn’t here that emo nightmare was ruining his life.   
“He isn’t here.”   
“I believe he is,” the woman said, somehow making her glare even angrier. Great, not only was he pulled away from his show but he had to explain to a couple weirdos that he would have noticed if someone was in his home without him noticing.   
“And you are?”  
“His parents.”


	6. Roman finally gets it together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finally stops seeing Virgil as a burden, it's just too bad there had to be drama in order for him to realize it. Now, he has to face up to his past mistakes and be who Virgil needs him to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I'm not dead or anything! It's just been a while. Oops.   
> Trigger warnings: verbal abuse, arguing, anxiety

“Okay… well, it doesn’t matter if your his parents, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s not here,” Roman told the strangers, quickly recovering from his moment of shock because how on earth can these two ostentatiously rich, pompous, arrogant people can be the parents of the nervous wreck that was Virgil.   
“Don’t lie to us” -insert list of expletives here- “we followed him here yesterday.”  
“I really don’t know what-”  
“I’ll handle this.” Roman definitely did not shriek when Virgil came up behind him.   
“How did you get into my house?” he cried, even though it sounded more like a squeak.   
“Your roommates,” Virgil told him, not meeting his eyes. He then turned to his parents. “Let’s take this outside.”  
Roman watched in shock as Virgil, who had somehow been here the whole time, closed the door to the apartment behind him as though he lived there.   
Once Roman’s brain began working again, his thoughts were everywhere. ‘How had this kid gotten into his home again? Had he been listening to his singing the entire Disney anthology? Was this pity-seeking freeloader going to burden them with his presence for the entire year?’   
“Now you listen here,” came Virgil’s mom’s voice through the door. Up until that point their conversation had been muffled enough to ignore but now voices were raised. “We put you with those boys for a reason, and we had to pull a lot of strings to do it so you are going back.”   
“Mom, I can’t go back there. They’re going to beat me up or something and they never let me sleep. How am I supposed to do well if-”  
“Quit trying to cry your way out, we know you just want us to pity you and give in but it won’t work,” shrieked Virgil’s mom. Roman’s heart sank. How on earth can someone say that about someone with anxiety? “We didn’t raise you to accept favors with nothing in return so you are going to stop burdening these… people with your sorry presence and are going to go back to your old dorm. We’re the ones who raised you and fed you and now we’re the ones paying your tuition. Show us some respect.”   
“Mom,” Virgil pleaded.   
Roman had had enough. How could someone raise a child as though they were collecting a debt. Children were meant to be someone you give freely to, they were meant to be given sympathy when they didn’t always deserve it and meant to be spoiled.   
He flung open the door and stood in front of Virgil. “I think it’s time you left,” he told Virgil’s parents coldly.   
The hand that Virgil’s mom had been raising menacingly came toward Roman, but he caught her wrist easily. She growled and ripped her arm away.  
“How dare you! This is a family matter, don’t interrupt.”  
“You being family doesn’t make it right,” Roman shot back. “Also he’s my roommate and your arguing outside of our apartment so it is kinda my business.”  
“You literally just asked him how he got into your house,” Virgil’s dad pointed out, speaking up for the first time.   
Roman faltered for a second before regaining his bravado. “Well, that as it may be, I believe he has been living here for a while and therefore, even if I was unaware of it, he has been my roommate for a bit of time. Now if you will excuse us.” Roman tugged on Virgil’s arm. The younger boy hesitated, looking between him and his parents, before following Roman.   
Roman quickly slammed the door shut and locked it, leaving Virgil’s mom to shriek on their welcome mat. Roman dragged Virgil over to the couch and pushed him onto it before turning on Queer Eye and cranking up the volume enough to drown out their guests.   
Roman stood watch, by the door waiting for them to leave and pretending not to here Virgil’s sniffling. Eventually, Roman saw through the peephole Virgil’s mom grab his father by his arm and angrily storm off.   
Roman slowly shuffled back into the living room like a teenager who had arrived home after curfew to find their parents waiting for them. He turned off the TV and sat on the coffee table so that he would be right across from Virgil.   
“So I’m not very good at apologies.”  
“You don’t have to-”  
“Yes I do, nice try,” Roman cut him off.   
“I don’t want your pity.”  
“This isn’t about me pitying you, it’s about me realizing the type of person I don’t want to be,” he explained, nodding toward the door even though the two examples of terrible people were gone.   
Virgil’s mouth twitched as he suppressed a smirk. “They’re still my parents.”   
“Doesn’t mean they’re good people.”  
“They just want what’s best for me.” Even Virgil himself didn’t sound so sure of that.  
Roman sighed. This was definitely not his area of expertise. “I don’t think they do, Virgil. And besides, you’re an adult now, you can make your own decisions.”  
“They’re paying part of my tuition. They get some say.”  
Roman sighed. “Why don’t we wait until Logan and Patton come back and then discuss this.”  
“Okay,” Virgil mumbled.   
“Look, I have to go to rehearsals, would you feel safer coming with me? I don’t mind.”   
Virgil visibly hesitated before nodding slowly.   
“Okay then. Get ready and we’ll head out in ten.” 

As Roman threw his stuff into a bag, he listened to Virgil rummage around in Patton’s room. He surprised himself with how much he wanted Virgil to come with him to rehearsals. It wasn’t that he didn’t mind, he actually wanted to be able to ensure the younger boy was safe, because even if Virgil saw nothing wrong with his parents’ attitudes, Roman’s stable family unit told him otherwise. He knew there was no way of predicting how far they would go to keep their hold over their son.   
“Are you ready?” Roman called as he stepped out of his room.   
“Yeah.” Roman jumped as Virgil’s voice came from Logan’s room right next to him even though he could have sworn he had gone into Patton’s room.   
“Weren’t you just in there?” Roman asked.   
“My clothes were in Patton’s room and my laptop was in Logan’s,” Virgil answered as though it were obvious. 

The two looked at each other before daring to open the front door but thankfully no one was there. When they stepped out onto the mostly deserted street, Roman saw movement out of the corner of his eye and grabbed Virgil’s arm protectively. Even when the figure turned out to be a runner, Roman still didn’t let go of Virgil until they had stepped onto the campus.   
“Here, take this.” Roman handed Virgil a paper sack. “I pack all my lunches a week in advance so you can have one for today.”   
“Thanks,” Virgil said, voice barely above a whisper. Roman noted that his hands were shaking as he took the bag.   
“Why don’t we have a movie marathon when we get back? We can watch Nightmare Before Christmas.” Roman didn’t know what this emo kid’s favorite Disney movie was but it seemed like a good guess.   
“Okay…” Virgil was clearly confused by Roman’s sudden change of attitude, which was fair. One second the older boy was kicking him out of his apartment and the next he was offering him a lunch, but Roman had made a decision. Virgil had people to get on him for not contributing or helping himself, so Roman, Patton, and Logan had to be people who protect and love him unconditionally.


	7. Logicality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil plan on setting Patton and Logan up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings. This'll probably be the last fluffy chapter before I add in some more angst.

“Hey Virgil,” Roman called to the emo who was reading in one of the auditorium seats, causing the boy to jump.  
“What?” He called back after a moment’s pause.  
“Do you want to help paint this set? Where just painting the bushes plain green so it isn’t hard or anything.” Roman waited anxiously as the other boy considered his offer. It had been two days since Virgil’s parents visited and Virgil still accompanied Roman to his rehearsals rather than being left alone, but Roman had to ask first every time.  
“Sure.” Roman beamed and led Virgil toward the corner where the cast and crew were sorting out and decorating the set design.  
The two boys settled down and worked in silence for the first few minutes.  
“That looks amazing Virgil!” Virgil jumped slightly and looked up.  
Roman wasn’t kidding, it looked amazing. Where his strokes on the facade of a house there uneven and completely messy, Virgil had added different shades or green to make the bush look more realistic.  
“Woah, look at what the new kid did!” Roman smiled apologetically as people crowded around them to see how Virgil had brought the most basic set piece to life. Virgil backed up quickly away from the crowd and right up against Roman.  
Roman laughed, hoping to put him at ease, and threw an arm around his shoulder as they watched the crowd. Virgil blushed and hid his face in Roman’s shoulder. 

“When are Patton and Logan coming home?”  
Roman and Virgil were sprawled out on the floor with a popcorn bucket between them while watching Aladdin. The past few days of working non-stop on the play had left them both exhausted and paint covered for the past few days, so they had started having sleepovers in the living room so they didn’t have to do the extra work of getting up from the couch and going to their rooms.  
Almost every morning they woke up nearly on top of each other with leftover popcorn in their hair.  
“Saturday, why?” Roman answered. While he missed his friends, he had rather liked spending time getting to know Virgil. His original opinions that Virgil was cowardly, lazy, and manipulative others to solve his problems were replaced with the realizations that Virgil had to be a lot braver than other people his age when it came to his parents and being forced to stay with his roommates. He had to explain this to Virgil every time he asked if Roman was acting out of pity, which was often.  
“Just wondering.”  
After a few moments he spoke again. “Do you think they like each other?”  
Roman sat up in excitement. “Yes! Someone else sees it! They’ve been like that for years, it’s been unbearable.”  
“Want to try to get them together?”  
“You read my mind.” 

“Hey Virgil, do you,” Roman hesitated, “um, do you want to test out this new restaurant in town. You know, to see if it would be a good place to send Logan and Patton.”  
Virgil froze midway through putting clean plates back into the cupboard.  
“Like a…? What do you mean?”  
Roman sighed. As you could imagine, swallowing his pride was not one of his strong suits.  
“I..” Of to a strong start. “I made the mistake of drawing incorrect conclusions and thinking the worst of you but I learned your real situation and realized that none of them were true and I think it I might like you so it couldn’t hurt to go on a date but only if you want to,” Roman said in one breath.  
Virgil blinked a few times before responding. “Seriously?”  
“Only if you want to,” Roman said again.  
“No, I do. It’s just taking some getting used to. You know, ‘cause you hated me like a week ago.”  
“I didn’t hate-” Virgil raised an eyebrow. “I just was slightly annoyed.”  
“Sure, Princy,” Virgil said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m going to go get ready.”  
“Yeah, I understand that you wouldn’t want to… wait. What?”

A few hours later they were sat at a table in a semi-fancy restaurant (they were college students after all). Roman was a bundle of nerves, constantly looking at Virgil and then looking away with a blush. For the first time since Roman had met him, he could see both of the emo’s eyes clearly now that Virgil had pushed his fringe back a bit, and he had traded out his old black hoodie for a purple one. For Virgil that was probably a prom outfit.  
“So… how’s life?” It’s funny that words failed him for one of the first times ever in this crucial moment.  
Virgil huffed out a laugh. “Pretty good, Princey. Have you seen the newest Disney movie?” Roman knew Virgil was trying to help him carry on conversation, which he greatly appreciated. 

“-but the bread is connected, how can it be a sandwich?”  
They had made it through dinner with only six awkward silences, so Roman considered it a success. They sat waiting for the bill to come while having an obviously very important conversation.  
Roman was about to argue back when a newly arrived couple caught his eye: Virgil’s parents.  
“Virgil, I don’t mean to alarm you but your parents just arrived.” Virgil paled quickly but otherwise didn’t act bothered by this.  
“They’re stubborn assholes aren’t they?” He stated mildly.  
“They’re walking this way,” Roman warned. Virgil’s eyes widened, so Roman did the only thing he thought would help.  
“Can I kiss you?”  
“Really? Now?” Virgil asked, incredulous. Then realization dawned in his eyes. “Oh! Yes.”  
Roman leaned in just as Virgil’s parents were passing their table.  
Since it was the first date, Roman pulled back from Virgil’s surprisingly warm lips once the older couple had passed them.  
“That was fun,” he said with what he hoped was a sly smile but he could barely keep himself from grinning like an idiot.  
Virgil blushed. “Just hurry up and pay so we can leave.” He flicked a straw wrapper at Roman for good measure. 

“Do you think they’ve killed each other?”  
“I don’t think either of them have tendencies toward murder so I-”  
“Do you think they’ve figuratively killed each other?”  
“Ah. Yes, in that case.”  
“What?!”  
Logan looked away from the road for a second to take in Patton’s look of alarm. “Only if Roman finds out Virgil is there, and that likely won’t happen.” It was definitely happened and there was definitely a fight, a solid 80 percent chance of it.  
They pulled into the parking garage for their apartment and unloaded their suitcases. 

“Uh-oh,” Patton said as he stepped into the apartment. Roman was at play practice as his pile of shoes only numbered six instead of seven, but there was no way Virgil could have left this many of his things in the common area over the course of the rehearsal.  
“Virgil?” Patton called apprehensively, peeking into various rooms as though he expected to find Virgil’s corpse in one of them.  
Logan, meanwhile, sent the younger boy a text asking where he was. Virgil, who said he was going to stay on his phone all week, didn’t answer.  
“He’s gone!” Patton announced as sped into the kitchen, sliding a bit on the tile as he tried to stop and running straight into Logan.  
“Sorry,” he said with a nervous blush, but then seemed to snap back in reality. “We need to find Virgil.”  
They spammed both Roman and Virgil with messages and then turned to their other friends, asking if they had seen Virgil, Roman, or a trail of blood coming out of their apartment.  
“Wait,” Patton said suddenly even though Logan wasn’t doing anything or going anywhere. The older student leapt up from the couch that Roman seemed to have completely destroyed and ran to his room.  
A second later, Patton called down to hall to Logan. “Hey, can I look in your room?”  
“Yeah.” Logan knew he had nothing incriminating in his room, and logically things couldn’t appear out of thin air, but Logan still felt worried Patton would stumble across a shrine dedicated to him or something of the sort.  
“Neither of our beds have been used recently. Virgil must have left at the beginning of break.”  
“I’m sure he’s fine, Patton.”  
As if on cue, Logan’s cell phone buzzed with a call from Roman.  
“Where’s Virgil?”  
“Jeez, good to hear from you too, Specs. He’s at an art thing, should be home in twenty minutes.”  
“You didn’t kill him?” It was unlikely, but he had to be sure.  
“I did not kill Count Woelaf, no. Thanks for the faith in me. Anyway, I need you to pick me up from the new restaurant. The whole cast and crew is there so don’t embarrass me and show up in something nice. It’s a fancy establishment.”  
“Yeah, I’m on it,” Logan answered with a long suffering sigh. He hung up and turned back to Patton, and then nearly jumped out of his skin because Patton had snuck up right next to him.  
“Is Virgil okay?” he asked.  
“A little warning next time,” Logan said as he tried to get his heart rate back down. “Virgil’s fine, he should be home soon. I need to pick up Roman from a restaurant.”  
“Okay, I’ll start stress baking.”  
“No more than a hundred cookies this time,” Logan told him sternly as he walked past with his suit coat. 

“Hey, Pat,” Virgil greeted as Patton launched himself into the younger’s arms.  
“I thought you were dead. Where did you stay while we were gone? Are you two friends? Why did-”  
“Slow down,” Virgil said with a laugh. “Logan and Roman are having car trouble and told me to bring them jumper cables, want to come?”  
Virgil was many things, but he wasn’t a good liar. And Patton was many things, but he wasn’t stupid. He appreciated the effort Roman and Virgil were going through to get him and Logan together, but it left him with the moral dilemma of whether to tell them they had already started dating.  
Oh well, at least maybe he’d get the first kiss he and Logan had been talking about.


	8. Serious Talk Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is worried about the sudden change in Roman and Virgil's relationship, leading to some serious talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: angst

Logan and Patton pulled away from each other when they heard a scandalized gasp come from the booth next to them that was hidden from their view by a divider.   
Two pairs of eyes were watching them over the fancy glass.  
“Roman!” Virgil pulled Roman down from their spying spot.   
Logan and Patton looked at each other in exasperation as they heard a crash and loud bickering. 

“So we spent all that time preparing this and you got together while you were gone?” Roman exclaimed as the four of them walked to the car.   
“It could have been avoided if you had simply asked before hand,” Logan pointed out calmly as he got into the driver’s seat.   
“But tell us about you two, kiddo, how did you guys end up getting along?”   
Roman glanced at Virgil who shook his head slightly.   
“Um, Virgil had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I was still up and went to bravely investigate the noise.”   
Virgil shifted his hand that had been previously propping up his head as he stared out the window to cover his eyes in a subtle facepalm.   
“And then you just decided to talk it out?” Patton asked hopefully.   
“Yep, we’re very rational people who have adult conversations.” He felt sweaty, did Logan turn off the air conditioning? Virgil kicked him in the shin.   
“Do I tell them we’re dating?” Roman whispered to Virgil. After their unofficial date, they had spent the next two days doing stuff together and decided to that that meant they were probably dating. Roman had made sure Virgil didn’t agree to it just because they had kissed.   
Once Virgil nodded, Roman cleared his throat and said, “We’re also dating.”   
Logan almost drove the car into a ditch while (or maybe because) Patton squealed.   
“You’re telling me that over the course of a week and a half you went from hating each other to dating?” Logan asked skeptically.   
“Hating to dating,” Patton echoes with a giggle.   
“Well, we did spend a lot of time together,” Roman pointed out. Virgil managed to blush even more. 

For the next several weeks, Roman and Virgil were not left alone if Logan had anything to say about it. If they were watching a movie after rehearsals, as had become their tradition, Logan found something to do in the kitchen nearby, but always quietly enough to listen in on their conversations. He always found excuses to walk with them any place they went or forced them into accepting rides from him.  
Virgil appreciated the concern, but Roman grew annoyed.   
“Do you not trust me?” He asked Logan one day while they sat eating breakfast together. Patton and Virgil were still asleep. They had been meaning to get Virgil his own bed, but it seemed like something always came up.   
“I simply find it suspicious that you have accepted Virgil’s presence so quickly and… exuberantly.”  
Roman wrinkled his nose at the word choice before becoming serious again.   
“Look,” he said, “I can’t really tell you anything but something came up and we came to an agreement. You know how they say stressful situations cause people to become closer.”  
“Yes, and I’ve also read Lord of the Flies.”   
They stared at each other until Logan, surprisingly, was the first to relent.   
“You are one of my oldest friends and I would trust you with my life, but that is a decision I made after spending years with you, and I do not always trust your decision making, nor do I trust Virgil’s ability or willingness to stand up for himself when needed.”   
“You’re worried I’ll turn on him and he won’t be able to do anything about it or even recognize that it’s happening…” Roman said slowly.  
“Yes. I know that you are prone to dramatic opinion changes, so it isn’t a surprise you warmed up to him so quickly, but I worry about Virgil’s doing so.”   
“We’ll just have to make sure he knows how to deal with people before he trusts the wrong person. Like with his roommates.”  
Logan nodded and said, “I will look into his behavior. You should try talking with him sometime.”  
Roman walked toward his room in an uncommon state of concentration. Suddenly, he stopped and smiled.  
Logan had basically given him the “you hurt him I hurt you speech.” And people always say Patton was the parental one of the group.   
He went to search through Patton’s and Logan’s rooms to find Virgil, because there was no way Logan was going to let his precious child share a bed with his boyfriend.   
“Hello My Chemically Imbalanced Romance,” Roman greeted when he nearly literally ran into Virgil as the other headed to the bathroom.   
Virgil scowled as Roman ruffled his already very tangled hair.   
“When you have time, we need to talk,” Roman told him. Then, in response to the alarmed look on his face, added, “It’s nothing bad, I promise, Logan just wanted me to check in with you.”   
Looking no less alarmed, Virgil ducked around him into the bathroom. 

Roman fidgeted with his sheets as he waited for Virgil. Honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be talking about.  
A light knock made him look up. Virgil hovered in the doorway, hair now in a smooth fringe across his forehead.   
“You can come in,” Roman told him. He could tell Virgil was anxious because just the other day the younger had all but kicked open the door to his room when a puppy commercial that Roman just had to watch came on.   
“So what was Logan worried about?”  
“Um,” Roman started eloquently. “Basically we were worried that you’re sudden change in attitude toward me may be because of a lack of self-preservation.”   
Roman looked up, not realizing he had looked away.   
Virgil chewed his lip. “I trusted you because I thought you had changed. Were you lying?”  
“No! No, but what if it was someone else who was? Can you tell when someone is being sincere? If I do something wrong, would you tell me if it upset you? I need to know that you are willing to have a voice in this.”  
“And what if I don’t?” Virgil said with a scowl.  
“Then the three of us will teach you.” Roman sat patiently as Virgil very slowly raised his eyes to meet Roman’s.   
“Why would you and Logan worry that I can’t tell when people are sincere?”  
Roman hesitated, trying desperately to find the correct phrasing without Virgil noticing the apprehension.   
“It’s because of my parents isn’t it.” So much for sugar coating it.  
“Virgil, they’re manipulating you. They-”  
“They’re my parents! They raised me. They’re just doing what they think is best.” Virgil stormed out leaving Roman to think about just how much progress they had yet to make.


	9. Virgil's realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While spending the summer at their apartment, Logan, Patton, and Roman try to find the truth about why Virgil hadn't stayed home while Virgil learns an even harder truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: pretty much everything that has been mentioned before so angst and manipulation and crying

“You can come visit my family with me,” Roman said in a pleading voice as he followed Virgil around their home.   
“I’m going to see my family, and you can’t stop me. I lived with them for eighteen years, three more months really can’t hurt.”   
“Yes it can.”   
Virgil scowled and ignored Roman as he continued to toss his things haphazardly into a duffel bag.   
“I’m going to be seeing friends most of the time anyway, so you and Logan can calm down.” In the weeks leading up to summer vacation, Virgil had been spending more and more time with Patton because he didn’t nag. Patton, however, wasn’t stupid, he was just sneakier about lending his support and expressing his concerns.   
When the three of them had hugged goodbye and went to stay with their families for a couple weeks before Logan came back for his summer internship and Roman worked in the school theatre, they took turns calling Virgil. Roman could call once a day without Virgil getting suspicious, Logan could call every few days, and Patton could call every hour or so and Virgil didn’t suspect a thing thinking it was normal Patton behavior. 

Logan drove a few hours back to school a week later, swinging by to pick up Roman from the airport.   
“You didn’t make a welcome home sign for me?” Roman asked with a pout once he got into the car.  
“It’s not like you went off to war,” Logan pointed out.  
“I don’t think my siblings got the message. I was brutally ambushed when I got home.”  
The concept of siblings was fascinating.  
After they chatted about their families and plans for the summer, Logan addressed what had really been on their minds.  
“How is Virgil doing?” Logan asked hesitantly.  
“Fine. Or so he says,” Roman said with a worried frown.   
They pulled up to their apartment and hauled their suitcases up the stairs. A wave of heat suffocated them as they stepped into their apartment.   
“I’m going to go buy some groceries, why don’t you open some windows and fix the AC.”  
“What? No!” Logan protested.   
Two minutes later Roman had stolen the keys from him and was out the door toward the nice air conditioned car while Logan suffered.   
Logan opened every window in the house and fiddled with the knobs of their old AC unit without any success.   
As he walked into the kitchen for a drink, a dark figure appeared in front of him. Virgil started talking but whatever it was was lost in Logan’s shriek.   
“Oh,” Logan said, clearing his throat and acting as though nothing happened, “hello Virgil.”   
Virgil smirked at him. “Hey, specs.”   
“What brings you back here?” he asked gently. Virgil’s smirk melted and was replaced with a calm mask.   
“I just wanted to see your face when I jumped out.”   
“Uh huh. What’s your actual reason? What happened?”  
“Nothing, I just got bored.” Virgil’s eyes flicked away briefly before meeting Logan’s steadily.   
Logan just sighed in response.  
“Have you tried to fix the AC yet?”  
“If you kick it it’ll turn on for a few minutes,” Virgil supplied helpfully.  
“How have you not passed out yet?” Virgil was still in his usual hoodie and ripped jeans. His flushed cheeks were the only indication that the heat was getting to him. His nonchalant attitude sure wasn’t giving it away.   
“Why do you ask? Is it hot or something?”  
Logan scowled at him while wiping sweat from the nose pieces of his glasses.   
“I couldn’t find your weird vegetable juice of sadness but I found some calcium rich apple juice.”   
Virgil grimaced, and Logan assumed it wasn’t about the healthy foods.   
“What are you planning on telling Roman?” Logan asked, trying to keep the smugness out of his voice.   
“Virgil?” Roman looked shocked and then immediately worried. “What happened?”  
“Why does everyone assume something happened?” Virgil asked angrily. “I just got bored.”  
“We assume because we know you’re lying,” Logan told him. Virgil froze before stiffly walking out of the room.   
“Maybe let me handle this, Specs,” Roman said with a sigh before following his boyfriend.   
Logan just shrugged. All he did was tell the truth.

“Hello,” Patton called as he walked into his apartment.   
“Patton, what are you doing here?” Logan asked with a grin. He pulled him in for a quick kiss.   
“Well I heard the three of you were hanging out and I felt left out,” he answered with a fake pout.   
“But won’t your family miss you?”  
“Yes, but my family here needs me. None of you are capable of remembering to eat.”  
Logan smiled. “It’s good to see you,” he said.  
Patton carried his suitcases into his room, completely unfazed by the fact Virgil was taking a nap on his bed.   
“Patton!” Roman greeted loudly.  
“Shhh! Don’t wake the baby!” Patton scolded.   
“The what?” Roman sputtered.  
“Virgil!” Patton explained with a grin. “He’s the baby of the family.”  
“I can’t argue with that logic,” Logan said with a small smile. 

No one was able get Virgil to say why he had really come home. The summer dragged on, filled by Logan’s internship, Roman’s play, trips to the beach, and movie nights. It took almost two months later that the other three could begin to guess what had happened.   
“What classes are you all taking?” Logan asked as they ate dinner.  
“I’ve added some acting classes and am finishing up my core classes.”  
“They added another cooking class so I’m taking that.”  
“Virgil?” Logan asked.  
“‘Mtakn…” Virgil mumbled more.  
“What?” Roman asked. They were all looking at the youngest now.  
“I’m taking law courses again.”  
“But… You loved your art classes,” Patton said.  
“You hated law,” Roman pointed out.   
“I talked it over with my parents and they said it’s a more secure future.” Virgil picked at the rips in his jeans.  
“But if it’s the rest of your life, you don’t want to be stuck doing something you hate,” Logan cut in.   
“But I won’t enjoy not making money.”  
“Virgil.” Logan moved to crouch in front of Virgil, forcing the emo to make eye contact. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you would rather spend your life talking in front of large groups of people than, oh I don’t know, living with three friends even though you don’t even have your own room but doing something that makes you happy?”  
“But you’re not always going to be around.”  
“Virgil, until the day we day we’ll be around for as long as you want us to be. And if you do find yourself on your own, I know that even if you’re a dirt poor artist you will get through it. You’re a fighter,” Patton said fiercely with tears in his eyes.   
“I’ve spent my life running from things. I ended up here because I was running. I couldn’t stand up to my roommates, I couldn’t stand up to bullies as a kid, I couldn’t stand up to my parents.” Virgil’s eyes widened as he realized what he had said.   
“You’ve had to overcome so much and you’ve made it out, this is just another one of those things,” Roman told him as he grabbed his hand.   
“You know this isn’t what you want. You don’t have to listen to them,” Logan pointed out.   
“They’re paying for this.”  
“Virgil, I heard you talking to them many different times. I know they’re making you pay them back, so you might as well just take out a loan,” Roman pointed out.  
“And you work all the time, just stop giving them the money and use it to pay for college,” Logan said.  
“How did you know?”  
“I didn’t. I guessed. Thank you for confirming my hypothesis.”  
“But- but their trying to do what’s best for me,” Virgil said, though he didn’t sound so sure now.   
“They made you stay in a dangerous situation. Your roommates were threatening you. They didn’t care if you were safe, they didn’t want you to become a stronger person or anything, they wanted you to stay because those idiots were all connected to rich and powerful people. They don’t care that the career path they would have you be on would destroy your mental state, they care about the money you’ll bring them.”  
“They just didn’t want me to be a bother to you,” Virgil argued weekly. There were now tears in his eyes.   
“Virgil,” Patton said gently. “If you told your parents that you had two people who thought of you as a younger brother and a boyfriend to look after you so you didn’t have to stay with people who wanted to hurt you, do you think they’d be happy for you?”  
“Do you think they’d be happy to know you had a boyfriend in the first place?” Roman asked.   
“We’re disagreeing with you right now, but we’d never kick you out or threaten you. We want you to be happy because that’s what family is supposed to do. That’s what our parents did for us. Can you say the same about your parents?”  
Virgil was silent for a moment, but the three of them soon realized he was crying when finally let out a sob.   
“Oh Virgil,” Patton said. “We’re sorry. We could have said that nicer.”  
Virgil just shook his head.   
Roman and Patton hugged him on either side while Logan rubbed his knee comfortingly.   
They eventually moved to the couch, where Virgil leaned into Roman’s chest with Patton pressed against his back and Logan leaning against his legs.  
Everytime they thought he was starting to calm down, a new thought seemed to his him and he’d start crying all over again.   
Roman kept wiping away Virgil’s tears and let his shirt get covered in makeup while Patton told him that everything would be all right. Logan didn’t really know what to do, so he just rested his head against Virgil’s knees and waited it out.   
Virgil cried until late into the night, and then he went into a catatonic state against Roman, staring off into the darkness of the kitchen and breathing shakily. None of them moved. No one knew what to say to the poor boy who had realized that he didn’t just lose the love of his parents, he never had it in the first place.


End file.
